LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The promise of production growth
in offshore Brazilian and West African oilfields is luring
investors to a select batch of European energy firms as
geopolitical uncertainty elsewhere weighs on the broader sector.

Portugal's Galp and Spain's Repsol, more
exposed than most to lucrative exploration zones deep under
Brazil's seabed, as well as France's Total on Angola
exposure, are seen as the pick of the bunch as BP and
Royal Dutch Shell suffer from weak exploration results.

At a time of increased tension and conflict in Russia and
the Middle East, there are few clear signals elsewhere in the
energy sector: oil prices have fallen back to around $95-$100
per barrel but are still historically high, while the energy
sector's dividend yield has helped it outperform this year.

Brazil is reckoned by analysts to be the biggest area of
production growth over the next few years outside of the United
States, just as Angola is seen offering the best opportunity in
Africa.

Some of this is already reflected in company valuations,
especially for Galp, which is trading at a forward
price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75 versus a median of 12.47 for a
basket of eight oil companies.

But there is a lot of promise: Galp's earnings per share in
the current quarter are forecast to jump 35.7 percent
year-on-year, according to top-rated analysts' expectations
compiled by Thomson Reuters, compared with the median forecast
for a contraction of 7.9 percent. A quick rise in earnings is
seen bringing a drop in the ratio.
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